🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 14
Rosellina sensed someone approaching and opened her eyes. It was Monterno. How had he managed to slip past the guards? Monterno pressed a finger to his lips in a “shh” gesture, then opened the cell door and stepped inside. Rosellina simply watched him without moving.
“I’ve just put them to sleep for a short while. I have to be quick.”
“……”
“His Majesty the Emperor started watching me this morning. Just as I expected. I’ll be able to follow them to the capital, right?”
Monterno’s eyes gleamed. So that was his plan—deliberately making himself noticed in order to get out of here and head to the capital. Rosellina narrowed her eyes, realizing what he was after.
But why tell me that?
Monterno had always shown her an odd kind of familiarity—bringing her medicine, intentionally delivering her food, all while studying her. Was it because he had figured out her true identity? That alone didn’t seem enough to explain it. Rosellina turned it over in her head, but she didn’t ask him why.
If anything, in Monterno Aventurine’s mind, he had probably already anticipated her asking that very question. She refused to move in the way he wanted. When Rosellina’s silence showed her disinterest, Monterno asked again.
“Aren’t you curious why I want to go to the capital? Or why I’m telling all this to Sir Roberto?”
“I’m not a knight. That title doesn’t suit me.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“……”
“Brother?”
Rosellina said nothing. Not “brother,” not “sir.” She was merely a mercenary, a wanderer, and now just a prisoner.
“Well? What should I call you?”
“……”
Rosellina didn’t want to answer. Titles meant nothing. Talking with Monterno like this would only harm her. He was an unknown factor—someone who could use magic, which alone made him a threat.
And the fact that he was trying to find a way closer to the Delion capital—dangerous for Dantes and her friends. In this era, magicians weren’t welcomed, and Monterno especially was troubling since he could control powerful monsters like goblins.
Don’t converse with someone who could threaten Dantes and the imperial family of Delion. I need to get word of this to Marco, Cesario, and Gunter.
Rosellina’s thinking was always simple. When she didn’t answer, Monterno glanced behind him nervously, then blurted out what he’d come to say.
“Anyway, I’ll be joining the procession. If Brother Roberto wishes to escape, I’ll make it possible. You can trust me. It’s basically my fault he was caught, so I feel responsible!”
“……”
“Of course, it was a shame seeing goblins slaughtered like that, but I do respect Brother Roberto’s skills for recognizing my abilities.”
He gave her a thumbs-up. The bright gleam in his eyes revealed the boy’s true nature. Rosellina stared at him as he excitedly rambled about things she hadn’t asked for, then cut him off.
“Do not rebel against the imperial family. I have no intention of escaping.”
“Strange words, coming from someone imprisoned for insulting the crown.”
“If you really want to help me…”
“If I want to?”
“Then kill me.”
Rosellina spoke without hesitation. Monterno’s eyes went wide, as if he hadn’t heard right. But she repeated it firmly.
“Kill me. If possible, leave me so mangled that I can’t even be recognized.”
“W-why… why would you say something like that?”
Monterno’s face was stricken with fear. Rosellina turned away, put two fingers to her mouth, and blew a sharp whistle. The sound was far louder than expected, and Monterno panicked, fleeing the cell in a rush. Rosellina watched his retreating figure.
He must have used the same passage Dantes had. He’d gone in the same direction, which meant the Aventurine family had likely shared that hidden route with Dantes.
Perhaps Dantes had already run into him. If that had been part of Monterno’s plan, then that seemingly clumsy boy was far more calculating than he appeared. Helping with an escape—what would he gain from it? Surely there would be terms to the deal. Should she have heard him out? No—unnecessary. Rosellina quickly dismissed it.
The sleeping guards woke not long after. They hurriedly checked inside and outside the cell, and sighed in relief when they saw Rosellina still there.
“I have a request.”
Rosellina stopped one of the guards as he was turning away. He jumped, pressing himself against the wall in alarm at her voice.
“Wh-what do you need?”
“I want to meet with one of Marco Griffin, Gunter Butler, or Cesario Wood. It doesn’t matter who.”
“A-and what do you want to see them about?”
“Just tell them I have something I need to say. A matter to pass on.”
“C-could you say what kind of matter—”
“I’ll tell them directly.”
“I’ll… I’ll relay the message, but they’re very busy men. They might refuse.”
Refuse. That word struck Rosellina most clearly. They might not wish to see her, or Dantes might stop it in the middle.
It was almost laughable that she had assumed meeting them would be easy. Once friends, they had become people difficult for her to even face.
But Rosellina didn’t dwell bitterly on her situation. All of this stemmed from her very first lie. It was punishment she deserved.
Calmly, she answered:
“That’s fine.”
“Yes. I’ll tell them.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Rosellina closed her eyes again. Until her identity was exposed, she wanted to at least do what she could to help Delion. As much as possible, then find a way to die. There was no other choice she could see. The cleanest way was to vanish from the world—without creating any more stories.
Perhaps it was just that she wanted to run. To flee from the conflict that was coming. To long for the eternal escape that only death could give. It even felt certain that it would leave others less unhappy.
Even if she feared it, she hoped it was possible. Above all, she hoped she wouldn’t have to face Dantes again. She didn’t want to hurt him any further.
Thinking this, Rosellina let out a long breath.
“I should go.”
Cesario spoke as soon as he received Port’s report. But Dantes acted as though he hadn’t heard him, questioning Port instead.
“Why just one of the three? What kind of matter requires that? Did she mention anyone else? Was there any mention of me?”
“She didn’t explain what the matter was. She said she’d only deliver it directly, and that it didn’t matter which of the three. There was no mention of Your Majesty.”
“Why?”
“Pardon?”
“Why not me?”
Port looked confused, glancing toward Cesario. Cesario waved him away.
“I’ll go. Sir Port, return to your post. Make sure no one else enters.”
“Yes, Sir Wood. I’ll take my leave, Your Majesty.”
Dantes still looked displeased, but Cesario dismissed Port and then faced him squarely.
“I’ll go and tell you what she says.”
“Why can you all go, but not me?”
“Because you’re the Emperor, Dantes.”
“What does that matter? Six years ago I wasn’t.”
“You were Crown Prince then.”
“You didn’t treat me like I was special back then. And besides, you didn’t know at first.”
Dantes scowled, frustration building. Gunter, watching nervously, spoke up.
“A-are you two fighting? Should I just go instead?”
“That’s not the point. Dantes just wants to go himself.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then Gunter and I will go. You stay here and work.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t?”
Gunter edged closer, watching them.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I just went alone?”
“At this rate, it’s better if all three of us go. Or all four, when Marco arrives—he said he planned to go anyway.”
“If you go, Roberto won’t talk. He only yelled at you yesterday.”
“That’s exactly it! Yesterday he clammed up like he had nothing to say in front of me, yet now he wants to tell you something in private? What does that mean?”
Dantes slammed his palm on the desk. It wasn’t hard, but after hitting it once earlier in anger, the sound of wood splitting echoed. Gunter quickly grabbed the desk.
“I think it really broke this time! Marco was right!”
Ignoring Gunter, Cesario met Dantes’s gaze. He couldn’t let him spiral further.
“Dantes. We’re your friends, your closest advisors. Anything she tells us will reach you. Don’t you trust us?”
“That’s not it. I just need to hear it myself.”
“Stop being so stubborn. When it comes to Roberto, you’re stuck in the past, like a child who never grew beyond eight years ago. The more you push, the more he’ll shut his mouth.”
“Then let’s test it. See if he only goes silent in front of me, or not.”
Dantes’s voice was resolute. Cesario raised his hands in surrender. Gunter scratched his head awkwardly before trying to lighten the mood.
“Cesario, cut him some slack. Dantes always cared about Roberto, didn’t he?”
“‘Cared’? Who says? Don’t drag the past into this.”
Dantes forced out his denial, sinking back into his seat. At that moment, the weakened desk collapsed under Gunter’s hand. With a loud crash, everything on it spilled to the floor. Dantes sighed.
“Nothing goes right.”
“But you’re the one who made it this way, Dantes.”
Gunter had meant the desk, but to Dantes, the words hit differently. In every matter, Roberto was tangled up in the subject.
It struck him that the rain-soaked confession that day had driven Roberto into this corner. Maybe it had been his own selfishness—expecting too much understanding from Roberto. There had always been feelings he was too afraid to reveal.
Dantes glanced at Gunter, then looked away.
He still couldn’t bring himself to admit it.
